


Hearts On Fire

by Diamond_Raven



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Confined Space (a few hours only), Elemental Magic, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Merlin is a BAMF, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sharing Body Heat, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:21:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24719689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diamond_Raven/pseuds/Diamond_Raven
Summary: As Arthur’s personal assistant, Merlin was expecting to spend the conference eating free food, working, watching Arthur flirting with people who unfortunately aren’t Merlin and trying not to burn the place down out of jealousy. But when Arthur’s kidnapped and held for ransom by his one night stand, everything else gets pushed to the side as Merlin jumps into action to save his life.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 231





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've tagged all the major themes but I don't provide trigger warnings for minor events. Feel free to email me if you'd like to ask whether specific things take place in this story or not.

“Well, this all sounds fantastic, Arthur,” the older woman says. She sounds genuinely excited about the partnership opportunity Arthur had presented to her, which is great. He’s been sorely tempted to peek into her thoughts during their conversation so he could see how she really feels about their upcoming project, but that would be rude so he’s restrained himself. He’ll have to take her word for it. It’ll leave a level of uncertainty, but it’s the polite thing to do.

“I’m thrilled you’re excited about it,” he says, trying to keep his smile professional. On the inside, he’s over the moon because getting this partnership going was one of his prime objectives when his father had given him his orders for the work conference.

She grabs his hands and squeezes them. Unfortunately, her age means she doesn’t have as much control over her powers any more and their hands are suddenly engulfed in flames. “Oh! I’m terribly sorry!” She yanks her hands back, looking horrified.

Arthur quickly pulls the flames into himself and gives her a soothing smile. “It’s alright, it happens to everyone. I’m just happy you’re excited.”

She laughs, still sounding embarrassed. “Well, that’s certainly true.”

“I’ll call you on Monday to set up a meeting, if that’s alright.”

“Of course! I’m looking forward to working with Pendragon Enterprises.” Then she glances at her watch and sighs. “On that note, I think it’s time I retire for the evening.” She gives him a wink. “I’ll leave you youngsters to continue the party.”

Chuckling politely, Arthur offers her his arm. “Let me walk you to the lifts.”

“Such a gentleman! Thank you.”

After dropping her off at the lift, Arthur hurries back into the hotel’s banquet hall with an extra spring in his step. He’s ticked off all of his tasks and there’s still another day to go in the conference, which means he’s ahead of schedule. Not only will Uther be pleased, but Arthur might be able to pull off even more deals than they’d anticipated.

But for tonight, he feels like he’s done enough work and it’s time for some relaxation. A lot of people have already retired for the evening anyway and he’s drained from twelve hours of business talk. He’s definitely earned himself a treat, which means finding somebody fun to share a bed with.

As he’s scanning the room, his eyes catch on Merlin and as always, his stomach flutters a bit. Merlin’s where he usually is during conferences like this; right by the buffet table and he’s picking at a heaping plate of food as he’s chatting with some of the other personal assistants.

Arthur watches Merlin as he laughs at something his conversation partners are saying; his eyes lighting up as he laughs. That’s already bad but then Merlin makes things worse by sticking a mozzarella stick into his mouth and licking the crumbs off his fingers. Arthur immediately wishes Merlin were licking Arthur’s fingers instead and he doesn’t manage to catch his involuntary whine. That inappropriate thought opens the floodgates to usher in the dozens of other fantasies that Arthur’s created over the years and he knows he’s standing there, gaping at Merlin with a ridiculous look on his face, but he can’t help it.

Maybe he’d feel more inclined to control himself if he thought Merlin would catch him, but he’s not worried about Merlin peeking into his thoughts. He has his shield up anyway and Merlin’s always abided by their office rules regarding non-consensual peeking into a colleague’s thoughts. But knowing he’s not likely to get caught means Arthur can happily drift off in his fantasies of being naked and sweaty in bed with a smiling, happy Merlin. He only comes back to himself when his hands get hot and he glances down to see his clenched fists have erupted into flames.

“Damn it!” he mutters and draws the flames back in as he glances around to see if anybody had noticed. Thankfully, his hands hadn’t been close enough to his trousers so he hadn’t lit himself on fire. That would have been embarrassing, especially because Merlin would notice the fuss and come running over to make sure he’s okay and there’s no way Arthur would be able to answer his frantic questions without lying to him, which he hates doing.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time he’s briefly lost control of his powers because of the intensity of his feelings for Merlin and it’s always embarrassing when Merlin catches him. Thankfully, Merlin never seems to suspect that Arthur’s loss of control is due to naughty fantasies but instead, he assumes Arthur’s sick or upset about something and Arthur usually just agrees with whatever theory Merlin suggests first.

But now that he’s confirmed that he hadn’t set himself on fire, it’s definitely time to find something to distract himself before he accidentally lights the entire hotel on fire. Wandering over to Merlin, he shoots him a smirk. “I see you’re still waging battle on the food.”

Merlin laughs and turns away from the people he’d been talking to and lifts his full plate. “The fight’s not over yet.”

Arthur rolls his eyes but he can’t help smiling at the way Merlin’s eyes are twinkling and how happy he looks. Jesus, he needs to get himself distracted as soon as possible.

“So, you look happy,” Merlin says. “Does that mean the partnership’s moving ahead?”

“I think so. She’s going to call on Monday to set up a meeting.”

Merlin’s grin brightens even more. “That’s great! Well done.”

The praise makes Arthur flush and he clears his throat. “Remind me on Monday afternoon if she hasn’t called and I’ll do something to push things along.”

“Will do.”

Arthur could stand here for the rest of the night and keep chatting with Merlin and staring at him, but that will probably lead to him embarrassing himself, so he needs to put his plan of distraction into motion. He jerks his head towards the bar. “Since the work day’s done, I’m going to see if I can find something entertaining to do for the evening. Or rather, find someone.”

Merlin chuckles, but it sounds oddly strained as he stuffs a cucumber slice into his mouth. He’s staring at his plate so maybe there’s something wrong with the cucumber? Whatever. Distraction time. “I’ll probably be out for the night so don’t wait up for me. I’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow morning.”

Merlin’s still smiling as he’s chewing but his smile looks a bit tense and Arthur frowns at him. “If you don’t like the bloody cucumber then stop eating it. Just chuck it in the bin. Nobody’s going to say anything.”

Frowning, Merlin gives him an odd look. “There’s nothing wrong with the cucumber.”

Okay. Whatever. “Have a good night.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Then it’s finally time to leave Merlin and all the sinful distraction he represents behind and Arthur hurries to the bar and orders himself a drink. He purposefully leans against the bar in a way that hopefully conveys he doesn’t have anywhere urgent to go. Once he gets his drink, he sips it slowly and pretends to be enthralled with whatever’s playing on the telly but he taps his fingers against his glass to advertise the fact that he’s a little bored.

He’s rewarded a few minutes later when a man slides up next to him and Arthur glances him over. He’s blond, broad shouldered and Arthur can sense that he doesn’t have any powers. He’s the exact opposite of Merlin in every way that counts, so he’s perfect.

“Hi,” the man says with an eager grin, his eyes looking Arthur up and down.

“Hi. Having a good evening?”

The man shrugs. “That depends on you.”

Arthur pastes a flirty smile on his face. His path to distraction is wide open in front of him. “Funny, I was going to say the same thing.”

The man laughs. “Then I take it you wouldn’t mind if I buy you a drink?”

“No, I wouldn’t mind. In fact, I wouldn’t mind if we had that drink somewhere else.”

The man’s eager grin widens even further. “It seems we’re on the same page then.”

The conversation’s clearly moving in the direction Arthur wants so he doesn’t bother gently poking into the man’s thoughts to make sure they’re on the same page. Instead, he finishes his drink and raises an eyebrow. “I’m ready when you are.”

* * *

Merlin stares at Arthur flirting with the blond twat and tries to stop himself from glaring. As soon as Arthur had wandered away, Merlin had walked straight to the dessert table, hoping the delicious treats would be a good distraction. But as always, he can’t stop staring at what’s happening at the bar. Arthur’s got his flirty grin on and he’s chatting with the twat and from their body language, it’s clear the twat will get the privilege of sharing a bed with Arthur tonight.

Merlin’s lips twist as that ugly jealousy coils in his gut and he stuffs a brownie into his mouth so he doesn’t lose control and set the banquet room on fire. That would lead to all sorts of embarrassment, not to mention that Merlin would have to lie to Arthur about why it happened.

On one hand, he loves work conferences because it gives him the chance to spend even more time with Arthur than he usually does. The night before the conference starts is always his favourite because they travel to the hotel together, eat dinner together and spend the rest of the evening sitting side by side on one of their beds as they go over the schedule and make plans on how to tackle their goals.

But once the conference gets underway, they don’t get to spend nearly as much time together as Merlin would like. It’s not that Merlin gets bored. He has many tasks he needs to do during the various meetings and networking events that they attend, but it seems he’s a victim of his own success and Arthur rarely has to do more than send him a short text or have a brief conversation with him before Merlin knows what he needs and he’s off to accomplish the task at hand. The evenings are the worst because that’s when they’re allowed to relax and unfortunately, Arthur’s definition of relaxing never seems to involve spending time with Merlin. Never mind spending time doing the things Merlin wants to be doing with him.

As Merlin discreetly continues watching Arthur flirting, he’s sorely tempted to check on Arthur’s thoughts. Fantasizing about Arthur has become Merlin’s favourite but also most hated hobby and if he can’t have Arthur, then at least he’d love to know more about what Arthur likes when he’s with someone. Unfortunately, peeking into Arthur’s thoughts isn’t an option for multiple reasons.

Not only is it against their company’s rules, but Arthur takes his mental privacy very seriously and he’d told Merlin before that he’d never forgive him if he snuck into Arthur’s thoughts without permission. Merlin would never jeopardize their friendship like that and Arthur’s never done it to him, so Merlin won’t give in to the urge. Not to mention that Arthur always has strong mental shields up and he’d know if Merlin’s prying so he could lose everything without ever seeing into Arthur’s thoughts in the first place, which would be stupid.

The best course of action is to put as much distance between them as possible and that means piling his plate high with desserts and making his way up to his and Arthur’s room where he’ll spend the evening stuffing his face and glaring at the telly as he tries to stop thinking about the fact that some stupid twat gets to spend the night having sex with Arthur and Merlin doesn’t.

* * *

His blond companion seems to be just as eager to get to the main event as Arthur, which is excellent. Arthur had noticed Merlin leaving the banquet room but that did nothing to remove Merlin from his thoughts. Now that he’s followed his temporary partner up to his room and taken his jacket and tie off, it’s brought him another step closer to forgetting about Merlin for a few hours, which is exactly what he wants.

“Here’s that drink you wanted.” The man walks towards Arthur holding a glass and Arthur eagerly grabs it and tosses the whole thing down.

The man chuckles. “A little eager huh?”

“Oh, not just a little.”

“Do you mind if I watch the news for a few minutes? It just started and I only want to watch the headlines.”

Arthur frowns at him and doesn’t know whether to feel insulted. He likes to think he’s a lot more entertaining than the news, but fine. Shrugging, Arthur sits on the edge of one of the beds. “Go ahead.”

“Thanks. It’ll just take a few minutes.”

The telly’s turned on and Arthur impatiently stares at the news anchor talking as he tries to stop his thoughts from going back to Merlin and desperately wishing he were back in their room instead. No doubt, Merlin’s brought a plate of desserts up from the buffet and Arthur can picture them both naked in bed together. Arthur would straddle him as he’s sprawled out and Arthur would tease Merlin’s stiff cock with one hand while feeding him bits of dessert with the other. As usual, the fantasies wind him right up and his palms are getting hot so he takes deep breaths to calm down. It wouldn’t do to set the bed on fire. That would provide a distraction, but not a very nice one.

But once he’s calmed down, he starts noticing that something’s...off. Everything in the room seems to be moving and he’s suddenly feeling incredibly tired. The news anchor is still prattling on about something but Arthur can’t follow what she’s saying. The situation worsens by the second and very soon, he can barely keep his eyes open. Everything around him seems to be swimming.

It’s very odd because he hadn’t drunk very much tonight and in any case, he doesn’t remember ever having had alcohol hit him this hard. But now he’s struggling to stay sitting up and he keeps tilting sideways until he manages to catch himself and push himself back up into a sitting position. Eventually that takes up all of his concentration and his eyes have slipped shut and stayed shut at some point and that’s when Arthur starts to panic. Because this isn’t normal.

But even stringing his thoughts about the situation together is becoming impossible. He’s exhausted and all of his limbs feel as if they weigh a ton. He can hear himself breathing; long, deep breaths as if he’s already sleeping. It’s very alarming, but what’s even worse is that Arthur can’t seem to feel properly alarmed by it. Nor can he do anything to stop it.

The only thought left in his head is that he needs Merlin. He’s not sure what for, but he really needs Merlin. Merlin, Merlin, Merlin.

Merlin’s name quickly becomes the only thing left in his head before he loses the ability to keep thinking Merlin’s name too and finally collapses sideways on the bed and falls into the deepest sleep he’s ever experienced.

* * *

He’s cold. He’s terribly, _terribly_ cold. He’s never been this bloody cold in his entire life. His entire body aches from the freezing cold clinging to him and it’s so uncomfortable that it takes him a while to notice what else is wrong.

It’s dark. At first, he’d kept his eyes squeezed shut due to the piercing cold that’s surrounding him. But when he pries his eyes open, he’s left in complete darkness. His head’s also pounding.

But much worse than all of this is that he can’t move. His hands are tied together behind his back and he’s lying on his side with his knees pulled up to his chest. And what’s most alarming is when Arthur tries to stretch out his aching, stiff legs to try to get up and get out of this cold, his feet bump into a solid surface.

Thinking he’s ended up in a dark storage closet somehow—that doesn’t explain his tied up hands, but his brain is moving too sluggishly to focus on more than one problem at a time—he tries to shift the other way, and his head bumps into another solid surface.

That’s when he really begins to panic and he frantically tries shifting in any direction he can...but he bumps into something on all sides. He can’t move. He literally can’t move. He’s boxed into a tiny space, it’s dark, it’s freezing cold and his hands are tied up. Panic clogs his throat and he stares into the darkness around him, desperate to see something that could help explain what’s happening. And that’s when he finally feels the cold fabric that’s been tied over his eyes. Not only that but when he tries to shift his tightly clenched jaw, he realizes fabric has also been stuffed into his mouth and tied around his mouth.

Sick fear rushes through him and his heart pounds as he trashes around the tiny enclosure he’s in and screams as loud as he can, but the sound is muffled and echoes around him in a strange way. And after more trashing around and bumping his head into a ceiling just a few inches from his head, he understands why.

He’s locked in a box. And not just any box. He can feel one of the walls with his bound hands and they’re perfectly smooth and covered in a thin layer of ice. He’s in a cooler. He’s been bound and locked in a cooler.

Instantly, the situation becomes clear. That blond prat had probably drugged him, tied him up and locked him in a cooler. Already, he’s so cold that his magical core feels heavy in his chest and Arthur knows he couldn’t create any fire even if he tried. It’s the perfect way to neutralize him and that means he has no way to defend himself. Not only that, but he has absolutely no control over what happens to him. His kidnappers could carry the cooler anywhere they want. They could chuck it into the ocean or take him to the other side of the world.

Panic tightens his throat and if Arthur weren’t already shaking uncontrollably from the cold, he’d be shaking from fear. He has to get out of here! He has to get out of this cooler! But screaming is useless and no matter how hard he struggles, he can’t seem to budge the box at all, never mind opening it. He’s surrounded by cold and darkness and he has no idea how the hell he’s going to get out. His thoughts frantically whirl around and around as he tries to come up with a plan. Unfortunately, the cold is rapidly sapping his energy as well as his ability to think and he doesn’t get very far with his thoughts.

As time goes by, Arthur notices he’s not shaking as much any more and even his fear fades a bit. It’s definitely the cold. It has to be. And that’s when it occurs to him that he doesn’t only have to worry about what the kidnappers will do with him, but there’s a chance he’ll freeze to death.

His magical core is already a ball of ice in his chest and if his body temperature continues to drop, his core might end up permanently damaged. But even more worrying is that the cold temperature has a good chance of killing him if he doesn’t get out of here. Arthur doesn’t have much time left and that renews his desperation to free himself.

But how?! He doesn’t even know where he is. If he’s still in the hotel room, the kidnappers have ignored his muffled shouts so far. He can’t negotiate with them if he’s gagged. They haven’t checked on him at all, so there’s no guarantee that speaking to them will ever be an option.

His next thought is to telepathically contact his father, but that wouldn’t work. Uther’s over an hour away and that distance is way too far. He’d be lucky to transmit his thoughts to somebody else in the hotel, especially when the cold is making him weaker.

But when he realizes that he might still be in the hotel, he suddenly remembers that he’s not alone. Merlin’s here! Merlin’s just three floors above him. Well, that’s assuming Arthur’s still in the hotel, but he clings to that assumption because it’s all he has. But will Merlin be able to hear him? If Merlin’s still awake, he probably has his shields up. But if he’s sleeping, then Arthur might have a chance.

In any case, Arthur has to hurry. If his magical core gets too much colder, he’ll lose his telepathic abilities and that’s when all hope will be lost and Arthur will have to spend his last few hours of life alone and locked in a freezing cold tomb.

Gathering all of his mental strength, Arthur drops his mental shields and sends out the loudest mental yell he can muster. _“Merlin!”_

* * *

Merlin’s having a very pleasant dream involving him and Arthur living in a castle made out of brownies and mozzarella sticks when suddenly, a loud yell fills his head and echoes around his skull.

It’s loud enough that it tears Merlin from sleep and makes him bolt upright in bed, his heart pounding. “What in the—”

“ _Merlin!”_

Once again, the shout echoes through his head. Then he realizes it’s Arthur’s who’s telepathically yelling his name and he sounds desperate and his voice is drenched with fear. Merlin’s breath instantly catches and adrenaline floods him as some of Arthur’s panic creeps into him.

“ _Merlin!_ _I need help_ _! Merlin!_ _Jesus Christ, please,_ _please, please!_ _Merlin!_ _”_

Arthur’s in trouble. Jesus Christ, Arthur’s in trouble!

Shoving the covers off himself, Merlin stumbles out of bed and frantically looks around for how to help until his sleepy brain finally fully wakes up. He has to answer Arthur and he has to figure out where Arthur is. Stumbling around the dark hotel room won’t solve anything because obviously, Arthur isn’t here. Closing his eyes, Merlin mentally grabs hold of the line that Arthur had opened between them. _“Arthur?”_

“ _Merlin?!_ _Thank God! I_ _need help. Please._ _”_

Did the idiot wander outside in a drunken stupor after finishing with the twat? But even if he did, hotel security would recognize him. They wouldn’t allow one of their guests to wander around outside while intoxicated. This doesn’t make sense.

“ _I’m not drunk, Merlin! And I’_ _m not wandering outside like an idiot!_ _”_

Despite the terror still evident in his voice, Arthur sounds annoyed at the thoughts Merlin had unintentionally shared. In normal circumstances, Merlin would feel embarrassed that he’s not partitioning his thoughts properly, but that’s not important right now. _“Where are you?!”_

“ _In a cooler. They locked me in a cooler. I’m tied up_ _and I can’t generate any fire due to the cold_ _.”_

Merlin’s eyes fly open and panic seizes him. In response, his core heats up and his palms get warm. _“Somebody put you into a cooler?!”_

“ _Yes, and_ _I can’t get out. My core’_ _s_ _getting very cold_ _and I don’t know how much longer I can communicate_ _. Please help me.”_

All thoughts of figuring out how the hell this happened fly away as Merlin realizes how serious the situation is. _“Where do you think you are?”_

“ _Maybe still in the same room. I don’t remember the number. It’s on the third floor. Please_ _hurry. I don’t have much time left._ _”_

“ _Alright, I’m coming. Just hang on and keep talking to me. I’m coming, I promise.”_

“ _Tell_ _hotel security_ _to_ _go with you._ _I don’t know how many people are in the room. They might have weapons or powers._ _”_

Grabbing the hotel key card from the desk, Merlin stuffs it into his waistband and rips open the door and hurries to the lift. _“I don’t care_ _and I’m not wasting time getting security_ _. I’m coming to get you out of there, just hang on.”_

When he arrives on the third floor, he rushes to one end of the hall and starts walking along, ruthlessly pushing into the thoughts of the people in the rooms he’s passing. Mostly he encounters sluggish, shifting thoughts that mean the person’s dreaming and he quickly withdraws and moves on. Some people’s thoughts are just dialogue from a movie they’re watching, so they’re not Arthur either.

When he’s passing the fifth set of doors, it occurs to him that Arthur hasn’t said anything since the lift and his heart leaps into his throat. _“Arthur! You better not be dead, you hear me?! Talk to me!”_

“ _I’m...I’m here.”_

Arthur’s thoughts are much fainter than before and Merlin’s panic is joined by hot anger that burns through him. Arthur’s suffering and Merlin’s going to burn every single one of those bastards to a pile of ash when he finds them.

As he storms down the hallway, tearing into people’s minds, his high emotions activate his powers and his hands burst into flames and he knows his eyes are glowing with fire. The bright flames engulfing his hands slide up his arms until the fire’s lapping at the edges of his shirt but Merlin couldn’t care less if all his clothes burn off. As he strides down the hallway, searching for the room where Arthur’s being kept, his pulse is pounding, fuelling the fire that Merlin’s making no attempt to control. The bastards who hurt Arthur will have to deal with the full extent of his wrath, even if the hotel will suffer some damage in the process. Nothing is more important than finding Arthur and punishing the people who dared to hurt him.

He brutally tears into the minds of the people behind yet another door. Dreaming. Next door. Singing a song. Next door.

“ _Arthur? Keep talking to me. I’m almost there.”_

Unfortunately, there’s no reply and that makes Merlin’s heart twist with renewed panic as flames billow from his hands. _“Arthur! Say something!”_

There’s a faint sound in response but Merlin can’t tell if it’s Arthur or the thoughts of the people he’s rushing past and a cold shiver runs down his back, despite the heat radiating from him. Finally, he encounters the thoughts he’s been looking for.

“ _I’m going to buy myself a nice car when we get the ransom. Something sporty. I’ll be able to afford that and_ _still have enough to_ _move somewhere nice. Somewhere tropical. I wonder how much it costs to live in one of those resorts full time? Maybe we should be asking rich boy’s daddy for more money?”_

“ _At least the stupid blond bitch stopping banging about in the cooler._ _Actually...it’s been a while since he’s said or done anything,_ _hasn’t it?_ _Did we turn the cooling up too high? What if he’s dead? Oh, well._ _Even if he is, w_ _e wo_ _n’t_ _tell his daddy. We’ll_ _have our money and_ _we’ll_ _be far away by the time they realize he’s dead.”_

Merlin halts before the door where the thoughts have come from and his throat tightens at the thought that he’s too late. His rage has lit such an inferno inside him that he’s sweating as heat pours from him and fuels the flames engulfing his hands. He conjures a massive fireball and uses all his strength to blast it towards the hotel door. The door lights up in flames and it’s torn off its hinges and blown into the room with a loud crash.

Storming into the room, Merlin sees two men, both of whom had leapt up as the door came flying into the room. They both look panicked and Merlin momentarily also panics at the thought that maybe the men have powers too and they might be stronger than him. Maybe Merlin’s being a fool attempting to rescue Arthur by himself and he’ll end up locked in a cooler too.

But continuing to panic will only waste time and allow the men to strike first. He needs to strike hard and fast to intimidate them and get them out of the way so he can rescue Arthur as soon as possible.

Remembering that Arthur hasn’t said anything in a while renews Merlin’s desperation and he lifts his hands as fire streams out of them and he directs the hot jet of flames towards the men. One of them dodges the fire by diving behind one of the beds and the window he’d been standing in front of shatters outwards. The other man isn’t quick enough and he’s engulfed by the flames and crumbles with a scream, flailing around on the floor.

The man who’d avoided the flames peeks over top of the bed and his terrified eyes are jumping between Merlin and the door, as if he’s trying to find a way to escape. That answers Merlin’s question as to whether the man has powers or any other weapons and Merlin’s earlier worry fades and leaves behind simmering rage.

Well, let the fool try to escape and Merlin will burn him to a crisp just like his friend. The fire’s already lit the carpet and doorway, and the flames are rapidly spreading throughout the room as thick smoke billows around them and streams out through the shattered window. The smoke alarm activates with a loud screech and there are panicked shouts from the hallway as people run past. Merlin’s never generated this much fire at once and he’s shaking from exertion. He won’t be able to keep this up much longer but he needs to make sure the men will give him what he wants.

He directs a glare at the man cowering behind the bed and lifts one hand; a fireball spinning on his palm as flames engulf the rest of his arm. “You’ll do as I say or I’ll kill you both,” he snarls, flames streaming from his mouth.

The man nods frantically as he squints through the smoke at Merlin and coughs. “Yes, alright! We’ll do whatever you want!”

Merlin’s arms are shaking and the flames around him are beginning to fade but it seems the timing’s perfect. Based on the terror on the gaping man’s face, Merlin’s done a good job intimidating him up to this point and hopefully Merlin will be able to rescue Arthur without any further issues.

Clenching his jaw, he concentrates and pulls all the roaring fire back into him. It takes enormous effort and he nearly crumbles to his knees before he’s manages to extinguish all the flames. All that’s left behind are faint traces of smoke that are lazily drifting around the room, dark burnt patches on the walls and floor, as well as the charred remains of the door that’s still lying on the floor. Abruptly, the incessant beeping of the smoke alarm stops.

The man who Merlin had burnt is whimpering on the floor and once Merlin’s confirmed that the fire’s out, he glances around for Arthur. He spies the large cooler sitting on the floor and his heart leaps into his throat. He needs to get to Arthur immediately and get him out. He’s about to race over to it when he sees a padlock on it. He directs glares at both men. “Give me the key to the cooler and get into the bathroom and stay there.”

“Yes, sir,” the un-burnt man mumbles and fumbles in his pockets. Merlin recognizes him as the blond twat who had invited Arthur up to his room and rage builds in Merlin’s gut again at this worthless excuse for a human being who had manipulated and hurt Arthur...and possibly killed him. It’s too bad Merlin hadn’t burnt him as well but he won’t waste time exacting revenge right now because Arthur’s life is much more important.

The man tosses the key towards Merlin and quickly helps his burnt partner up and they stumble into the bathroom. Merlin takes a moment to shut the bathroom door and directs a hot stream of fire at the door, warping the edges of it and melting the door knob and locking mechanism, which guarantees that they can’t easily get out. Once he’s extinguished the fire, he leaves the smoking door behind and hurries to the cooler.

He’s so terrified that Arthur’s already dead that his hands are shaking and he drops the key twice before he finally manages to get the lock open. He rips open the latches and throws open the lid. Cool air pours out of the cooler and Merlin’s breath catches when he sees Arthur lying curled up and utterly still. He’s gagged and blindfolded and it seems as if his hands have been bound too. Reaching into the cooler, Merlin holds his breath, frantically praying that Arthur’s not dead. _“Please don’t be dead. Please, please, please. Arthur, please.”_

He presses shaking fingers to Arthur’s throat, feeling for a pulse. Arthur’s skin is freezing cold and he hasn’t moved at all and fear is making Merlin’s heart race until he finally feels a faint pulse. Letting out a relieved breath, Merlin nearly collapses. Thank God!

But there’s no time to celebrate. Arthur’s in very bad shape and Merlin needs to get him out of the cooler and get him warm immediately. Standing up, Merlin tries pulling Arthur up but there’s no way he can lift Arthur’s unconscious weight. Frantically glancing over his shoulder, he spies a small crowd at the door. “Somebody come help me! I can’t lift him out by myself!”

Two men who are a lot bigger than him hurry forwards and Merlin allows himself to be shoved to the side as they coordinate together to slowly lift Arthur’s cold, stiff body out of the cooler. Merlin hurries towards the charred, smoking doorway. “Bring him down to my room. I need to get him warmed up immediately.”

As he’s pushing through the crowd towards the lift, he grabs a random woman as he’s passing. “Tell the hotel staff to call room 307 to speak to me, but not to enter. I’ll pay for all the damage to this room. Tell them to arrest the two men in the bathroom for kidnapping. And tell them to have an ambulance on standby for the man I’m taking down to room 307. I’m hoping I won’t need help, but just in case.” He gives her a hard look. “Do you understand?”

She nods. “Yes, sir.”

“Thank you.”

Now that’s taken care of everything else, he’s going to focus all of his energy on saving Arthur’s life. Because Merlin will definitely save Arthur’s life. The thought that he won’t be successful is too devastating to even think about so he won’t even consider it. Arthur will be fine. He has to be.


	2. Chapter 2

When Arthur wakes up, the first thing he notices is the warmth. He’s surrounded by lovely heat on all sides and it feels marvellous. At first, he thinks he must have died and while that would be tragic, he’s happy that wherever he ended up is warm.

Then he notices he’s lying on somebody’s chest and the person’s chest is moving up and down as they breathe. While that would be a lovely addition to the afterlife, it makes Arthur think that perhaps he’s not dead? Shifting slightly, he lets out an involuntary groan at how stiff his body is.

The body beneath him moves a bit and arms that are wrapped around his back tighten. “Arthur? Are you awake?”

That’s Merlin’s voice and he sounds scared but also hopeful. Knowing it’s Merlin who he’s lying on top of instantly makes Arthur relax, but it also makes him realize that he’s probably not dead. “Merlin?”

“Oh, thank God!” Merlin’s voice is choked with tears and he’s clinging to Arthur so hard that it’s a bit hard to breathe, but the warmth is so nice and knowing that it’s Merlin who’s holding him makes it even nicer, so Arthur doesn’t care.

Slowly, his sluggish brain starts to function again and he begins to put the pieces together. The last thing he remembers is mentally screaming for Merlin to help him when he’d been trapped in the cooler, blindfolded, tied up and slowly freezing to death as his body ached and his core froze into a lump. Now, he’s surrounded by wonderful warmth on all sides. Instead of lying on the cold, hard floor of the cooler, he’s lying on Merlin and there’s a thick blanket wrapped around him.

“How are you feeling?” Merlin asks quietly, his voice shaking.

“Weak, but much better,” Arthur mumbles into Merlin’s chest. His hands are now free, which is a delight and he lays his hand on Merlin’s warm side, his fingers running over the bumps of Merlin’s ribs.

“They have an ambulance downstairs but I thought body heat would work best, especially if I used my core for extra warmth.”

Merlin’s skin is radiating heat and Arthur clings to him and rubs his face on Merlin’s chest. He wants to stay here for the rest of his life. He can tell Merlin’s using his power on a very low setting, not enough to generate flames, but his core is actively churning out heat that’s seeping into Arthur’s cold, aching body. Their legs are tangled together and when Arthur shifts a bit, his soft cock brushes against Merlin’s where they’re nestled together. It’s the most comfortable Arthur’s ever felt in his entire life. “I think I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah? How’s your core?”

It’s a good question. While the rest of him has pleasantly warmed up, his core still feels like a cold lump. It doesn’t feel like a frozen ball of ice any longer, but it’s definitely not normal. “It still feels cold.”

“Here, shift over so you’re lying right on top of me. Press your chest against mine so your core’s getting heat directly from mine. I’ll increase the temperature a bit but I’m scared I’ll light the bed on fire if I turn it up much higher.”

As Arthur shifts to press his cold core against the pulsing heat of Merlin’s and he buries his face in Merlin’s neck, his heart overflows with how much he cares about him. Not only had Merlin saved his life, but he’s giving Arthur his warmth and magic to thaw his frozen body. Maybe he’s still weak from everything that’s happened but he’s shaking as he clutches Merlin and nuzzles his neck, pressing his nose against his skin.

Merlin draws in a shaky breath and pulls the blanket up to Arthur’s neck and tightens his arms around him beneath the blanket. The motions press Arthur’s cock against Merlin’s and a bit of heat tingles through him that has nothing to do with the heat pouring from Merlin, but Arthur ignores it.

“I was so damn scared I’d lost you,” Merlin breathes out.

“I’m alright,” Arthur whispers.

“You were so cold and still when I opened the cooler. I thought I was too late.”

“You saved my life.”

“I know. I just...” Merlin lets out a shaky sigh. “Jesus, I was terrified.”

The intensity of Merlin’s emotions make Arthur’s heart glow even brighter and he clenches his jaw so he doesn’t burst into tears like a moron. He had no idea Merlin cared this much about him and it’s a little overwhelming.

“Go to sleep, Arthur,” Merlin whispers. “Your skin’s still cold and your core still feels like a mass of ice. You need to soak in a lot more heat.”

That makes Arthur frown. While it’s lovely to be soaking up Merlin’s heat, it must be a lot less pleasant to be on the other side of things. Merlin’s purposefully been clinging to Arthur’s frozen body for who knows how long and that must be uncomfortable. Not to mention that his cold core pressing against Merlin’s must feel horrible. “I think I’ve inconvenienced you enough. You should call the ambulance. They must have heating units or something.”

“This isn’t—it’s not an inconvenience. It’s not the most comfortable thing in the world but I need—I _want_ to be one to do this. I need to feel you slowly getting warmer. I don’t want to sit on a hospital chair in a corridor.” Merlin’s voice is shaking. “You’re too damn important to me and I care about you too damn much and I need to be here. If you’re uncomfortable or you’d feel better about professionals stepping in, then of course I’ll let the ambulance take over but...”

Everything that Merlin’s saying is making Arthur’s heart light up even more and he presses a smile against Merlin’s neck. “Merlin?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s nobody else I’d want helping me right now.” And that’s the truth.

Merlin lets out a long breath and tightens his grip on Arthur even more. “Then go back to sleep. I’ve got all our phones right next to me and I’ll take care of everything, I promise.”

Arthur relaxes at Merlin’s promise. He’s not worried about anything. It doesn’t even bother him that he has no idea what happened to the man who had kidnapped him because he trusts Merlin. If Merlin’s telling him to go back to sleep and that he’ll protect him and take care of everything, then that’s what will happen. There’s nobody else on earth who Arthur trusts more than Merlin.

Closing his eyes, he burrows closer to the warmth pouring from Merlin’s body and goes back to sleep.

* * *

Holding Arthur against him, Merlin continues doing what he’s been doing ever since those men had helped drag Arthur’s frozen, unconscious body into the hotel room and left them. Without hesitation, he’d stripped them both naked and arranged them in bed so they’re touching as much as possible to share body heat.

It had been the most uncomfortable thing Merlin’s ever done. It had literally felt like hugging a pillar of ice to his naked skin and even breathing had been difficult, never mind trying to generate enough power so his body was creating heat to offset the cold being transmitted from Arthur’s as well as heating his frozen body. But adrenaline had kept Merlin going whenever he’d been on the verge of giving up and calling for the paramedics to help. Every few minutes, he’d check Arthur’s pulse and he was so focused on tracking it that he could tell when the sluggish rhythm slowly began to pound harder as Arthur’s heart warmed up and began to resume functioning normally.

But Merlin had still been terrified that Arthur wouldn’t wake up. Or if he did wake up, Merlin was scared that Arthur would be annoyed at the path Merlin had chosen. But his feelings for Arthur had driven him to pick the path that would allow him to watch over Arthur as closely as possible. Even if Arthur would have been upset over that, Merlin just had to do it.

While Arthur’s body slowly warmed up and Merlin continued generating that continuous low level of heat, people kept calling. The hotel staff. The police. Uther. The police again. Uther again. Uther once again. The hotel staff again.

Apparently, the police had found the beginnings of the ransom note on a computer one of the kidnappers had been working on. The idiots hadn’t even sent out the ransom note yet but Arthur had already been close to death because they’d used the strongest setting on the cooling unit. Idiots. The men had been arrested for kidnapping and once Merlin had told Uther what had happened, Arthur’s father instantly started ranting that he was going to get attempted murder charges added on too.

At that point, Merlin didn’t really care what happened to the men, nor did he care about the hotel staff’s complaints about the room damages. He’d done his best to be polite and provide as much information as he could, but once he was being asked to repeat himself over and over, he firmly told everybody that Arthur was his main priority and he’d be focusing on him until the morning. Everything else could wait until then.

As the hours had gone by, Merlin’s energy had continued to drop and it was only his adrenaline that was fuelling his core and allowing him to continue creating the heat that Arthur desperately needed. Not knowing if he was doing this all in vain or if he’d chosen the wrong path kept him in a state of constant anxiety until Arthur had thankfully woken up.

It had taken all of Merlin’s self control not to kiss Arthur or make too much of a fuss, since that might have told Arthur more about Merlin’s feelings than he wanted to share. Plus, he’d been bracing himself for Arthur’s annoyance at how Merlin had handled the situation.

But the way Arthur actually reacted had completely thrown him off. Arthur had seemed not only comfortable with the situation, but he’d shifted himself to get even closer and he’d touched him and rubbed himself on Merlin in a way that had taken him by surprise. A part of Merlin’s convinced that Arthur had just been enjoying the warmth and being alive but Arthur’s blatant displays of trust and emotion were things that Merlin had only witnessed in his own fantasies.

Arthur’s words keep replaying in his head. _“There’s nobody else I’d want helping me right now.”_

But again, Arthur had been through an incredibly traumatic situation and there’s no telling if he’d been fully aware of what he was saying. But what if Arthur had been fully aware of what he was doing and saying? What if...what if his feelings towards Merlin are a lot deeper than he’d thought they were? Is there a chance that the two of them have been harbouring feelings towards each other but they’d been too scared to say anything?

Then Merlin has to give himself a mental slap over the head because what the hell is he doing?!

Arthur had been kidnapped and nearly killed and Merlin’s busy thinking about whether Arthur has romantic feelings for him or not and that’s...definitely not appropriate. No, Merlin needs to focus on monitoring Arthur’s condition and continue creating heat that Arthur’s body still desperately needs.

* * *

The next time Arthur wakes up, he feels even better than he did the last time. Sunshine is streaming through the window and Merlin’s warm chest is moving up and down beneath Arthur’s arm. Lifting his head a bit to study Merlin’s face, Arthur notices he’s sleeping.

That’s not a surprise. Arthur can’t believe how much energy Merlin had used on him last night. He has no idea how Merlin had rescued him, but there’s no doubt he’d used his powers for that as well. While that would be tiring enough, continuously using his core to create a steady level of heat for hours on end is exhausting too.

But Merlin had done it without complaining. He could have called an ambulance and forced Arthur to wake up in unfamiliar surroundings with strangers taking care of him. But he hadn’t. Arthur realizes Merlin might have done it purely out of a sense of loyalty but he can’t help wishing it was for some other reason.

Realizing he has to pee and he’s also thirsty, he gently tries pulling himself out of Merlin’s grip without waking him. Unfortunately, Merlin opens his eyes and sleepily frowns at him. “You alright? Damn, I must have fallen asleep.”

Arthur smiles down at him. Oh, how he wishes Merlin’s motivations were what he wants them to be! “You’re exhausted, go back to sleep. I’m just going to the loo and drink some water.”

Merlin puts his hand on Arthur’s chest, right over his core and Arthur’s heart flutters at the tender touch. “Your core feels a lot better. How does it feel?”

Arthur assesses himself for a moment. “It still doesn’t feel right, but it’s no longer cold.”

Biting his lip, Merlin frowns with worry. “You should go to hospital and have them run some tests.”

“Yeah.” Getting out of bed is necessary, but as soon as Arthur’s away from Merlin’s body heat and the blanket’s fallen off him, the cooler air in the room slithers around him and he makes a face. But he’s being ridiculous. It’s not really cold in the hotel room and he’s fine.

Clenching his jaw at the discomfort, Arthur pads over to the bathroom and takes care of business. But when he turns on the tap to wash his hands, the water that comes shooting out is ice cold and Arthur instantly yanks his hands back as his breath catches. Memories of bitter cold come back to him. The darkness. The feeling of being trapped. And that constant, biting cold that dug into him and made his entire body ache.

He’s shaking as he stands there and he’s desperate to get back to the warmth of the bed, specifically Merlin. But that’s ridiculous. He’s fine. He’s no longer in the cooler, he’s alive and the bathroom’s nice and warm. Still shaking, he yanks the lever on the tap until the water’s steaming and washes his hands in the hot water. He hopes that makes him feel better, but his skin’s still crawling from the unpleasant memories and there’s a little bit of panic that’s clinging to his heart as he wanders back to the bed.

Merlin’s sitting up in bed and scrubbing hands through his hair. “You’ll need to talk to the police today. Not to mention dealing with the mess I made in the hotel room.” He frowns and stares down into his lap. “I went a bit overboard and I did a lot of damage. I’m really sorry about that. You should take it out of my pay but I really can’t afford to pay it all back in one go.”

Arthur crosses his arms, feeling cold and panicked as he stands there, despite the room being a perfectly acceptable temperature. “I don’t care about the bloody room. You saved my life so I’ll pay for the damages.”

Merlin looks across the room at him and he still looks unhappy. “I’m also sorry for how I handled things after I rescued you.”

Letting out an ugly laugh, Arthur tightens his hands into fists as he hugs himself. He hates everything that’s happening. A few hours ago, he’d been entertaining the thought that maybe Merlin feels the same way about him as Arthur does and they’d been cuddling together in a warm bed. Now, everything dark and unpleasant have come flooding back and Arthur doesn’t know if he can handle them all at once. “Merlin...” His voice is shaking a bit.

A frown flickers over Merlin’s face. “What’s wrong?”

Arthur clenches his jaw and stares at him. He can’t hide the misery that he’s sure is written all over his face. “I’m...not alright. And because I’m not alright, I can’t handle you telling me that you regret everything that happened last night. It’s fine if you do, but I can’t listen to that right now. Maybe later.”

Merlin’s frown intensifies. “I don’t regret anything that happened last night. Well, there’s one thing. I burnt one of the bastards but I didn’t get the bastard who’d been flirting with you last night. He’s the one who started all of this, so I should have gotten him too.”

Arthur couldn’t care less about that. The justice system and his father will ensure both men spend the next few decades rotting in prison for what they did to him. But he clings to the first part of what Merlin said. “Well, I don’t regret what you did either. Not one bit of it.”

He briefly closes his eyes, wondering if he should continue but then decides to just get this over with. He doesn’t know if he can go back to the way things were and he needs Merlin to understand that it has nothing to do with him. “I’m not just grateful that you saved my life and took care of me, but I’m glad it was you. I’ve had feelings for you for a long time and I know this isn’t the right time or place for it, but trust me—you didn’t do anything that I didn’t want. I know that wasn’t your motivation and I’m sorry that this will make a mess of everything, but I’m cold and scared and my head’s all over the place.”

Merlin’s eyes widen and a dozen emotions flicker across his face. “You’re still cold? Is it your core?”

Arthur shakes his head, feeling miserable. He can feel the phantom memories of the cold air clutching him in the cooler and it’s making him shiver. “No, I’m just remembering being in the cooler.”

Throwing the blanket off himself, Merlin holds out his arms. “Come here.”

But Arthur hesitates. “You did more than enough for me last night. I have no right to—”

“Arthur...” Merlin’s staring at him, looking both sad and excited, for some odd reason. “I nearly burnt down the hotel last night because I was terrified and so angry that somebody had hurt you. Part of that is because we work together and you’re important to me, but you’ve become a lot more important to me lately than you should be.”

Arthur blinks. Merlin’s admission is stunning and in normal circumstances, his heart would be leaping for joy at the discovery that maybe, his dreams really are coming true. But he’s cold and miserable.

Merlin makes a distressed noise in his throat. “Please, either come here or let me bring you the blanket and clothes. You look miserable and it’s making my heart ache and my poor heart’s been through enough over the last twenty four hours.”

His feet are moving before he’s made a conscious decision to do it and Arthur’s hurrying back to the bed and crawling over Merlin. He lays down in the same position he’d spent hours in last night; pressing himself against Merlin from head to toe and burying his face in Merlin’s neck as he wraps his arm across his chest. Merlin tucks the blanket back over them and digs his hands underneath, wrapping them around Arthur’s back. He slings one of his legs over the back of Arthur’s legs, which presses their soft cocks together.

The warmth spreads through Arthur and Merlin’s skin rapidly warms as he activates his core to add even more heat. Moaning, Arthur relaxes against him, all the unpleasant memories from last night fading away. Even thinking about being stuck in the cooler and that aching cold doesn’t create the same panic as it had when he’d been standing alone.

“Is that better?” Merlin whispers into his ear.

“Yes. Thank you,” Arthur mumbles.

One of Merlin’s hands run up his back and gently tangles in Arthur’s hair, pressing him harder against Merlin’s neck. “We can stay here as long as you need.”

For a while, they lie in silence as Arthur fully calms down from the ugly panic that had clutched him. Once he’s back to thinking clearly, he smiles when he remembers what Merlin had admitted. “Merlin?”

“Hmm?” Merlin’s still playing with his hair, which he hadn’t done last night. That’s a good sign.

“Did you really mean it?”

“Yes. I don’t know which part you’re specifically talking about, but I meant every word I’ve said.”

Arthur smiles. “The part about you having deeper feelings for me than you should.”

Merlin sighs softly and his chest rises beneath Arthur’s arm. The part of Arthur’s forearm that’s directly pressed against Merlin’s core is toasty warm, as if he’s been lying out in the sun for hours. Merlin’s creating that heat on purpose, just because he wants Arthur to feel better and that’s amazing.

Shifting a bit, Merlin slides down until he’s looking at Arthur, their foreheads pressed together. “Like I said, I meant every word I said. Including those.”

Arthur smiles. “I meant what I said too.”

Mirroring his smile, Merlin lays a hand on Arthur’s face, rubbing his cheek with his thumb. “Does this mean I don’t have to spend my future nights consoling myself with food while you’re shagging other people?”

Remembering that this whole situation had started by Arthur’s desire to sleep with that prat just so he’d forget about Merlin for a few hours makes Arthur’s smile fade a bit. “Don’t worry. I’m not planning on going into hotel rooms with stranger ever again. Never mind drinking something they offer me.”

Merlin’s smile disappears and he frowns with worry. “Damn, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that up again.”

Arthur offers him a small smile. “Funny enough, I don’t mind talking about it when I’m lying here like this. I don’t know why. It’s a bit odd, actually. I know what happened last night was horrible and I’ll have to deal with that, but I feel a lot better about it when you’re touching me. And when it’s warm.”

Merlin smiles, but it’s a sad smile. “I’m happy to touch you and warm you up anytime, anywhere. Now and forever.”

His heart flutters at those words and Arthur rubs his nose against Merlin’s. “Conducting meetings will be difficult like this, but we can manage almost everything else.”

Merlin’s eyes sparkle as he chuckles softly. “We’ll figure it out. As long as it makes both of us feel good, I don’t care what we have to do.”

Staring at him, Arthur can’t stop smiling at how good he feels. There’s no doubt this is the calm before the storm, but that storm seems very far away at the moment. “Can I kiss you?”

His smile widening, Merlin nods. “Yeah.”

Leaning over to cross the small distance that’s still separating them, Arthur presses his lips against Merlin’s in a soft kiss. Merlin’s hand tightens on his face and he moans softly as he kisses him back. Merlin’s lips are as warm as the rest of him and Arthur eagerly deepens the kiss.

Merlin rolls them until he’s on top and braces his forearms on either side of Arthur’s head and presses their chests together.; Merlin’s core radiating heat against Arthur’s. His warmth surrounds them as they kiss and Arthur smiles against Merlin’s lips at how good it feels.

They keep their kisses slow, even as they grow a bit heated and their cocks stiffen a bit. Arthur’s not really in the mood to have sex right now and Merlin maintains the pace, so it seems they’re on the same page.

No matter what happens in the future, if he’ll have Merlin by his side, everything will be alright.

* * *

That stupid cold continues clinging to him, as does that stupid shakiness and the panic. Despite Arthur knowing the temperature in his office is perfectly adequate, today’s one of the bad days.

It doesn’t matter that it’s been months since his kidnapping or that the perpetrators are currently rotting in prison. It doesn’t matter that his core has fully healed, his powers are back to normal and the doctor’s have given him a clean bill of health. Neither time nor the workings of the justice system have helped take the bad memories out of Arthur’s head. Unfortunately.

As soon as he’s done his last meeting of the day and Merlin’s showing their visitors out, he hurries to his desk and grabs the heater that he keeps below it and brings it over to his couch and turns it on. Shrugging off his suit jacket, he goes back to his desk and opens the bottom drawer of his desk and pulls out the fluffy blanket that Merlin had bought him weeks ago. He wraps it around himself as he hurries to the couch and sits down, reaching his shaking hands down to the warmth radiating from the heater.

He knows from prior experience that it’s not a good idea to use his own core to warm himself up in these situations. His therapist had explained that he’s not actually cold and using his powers to help sooth the cold that his imagination had conjured up has led to disastrous results in the past. He’s promised Merlin not to use his core unless Merlin’s there to supervise, which he’s currently not.

Drawing in deep breaths, Arthur focuses on the warmth of the blanket and the heater and sternly reminds himself that he’s fine. He’s not in the cold cooler. He’s nice and warm. He needs to think about lovely, warm things, such as cuddling with Merlin, clutching a mug of warm tea or sitting in front of his roaring fireplace at home.

The door to his office opens and Merlin hurries inside, shutting and locking the door behind him. His face is tight with worry. He can always tell when Arthur’s having a bad day, even without mentally asking him anything. Without a word, Merlin takes off his suit jacket and tie and lies down on the couch, lifting his arms towards Arthur.

His heart overflowing with how much he loves Merlin, Arthur keeps the blanket clutched around himself as he lays down on top of him with the heater blasting against his back. Merlin wraps his arms around him and kisses his temple as Arthur clutches him.

As always, the physical comfort combined with the heat helps drive back the phantom memories of bitter coldness and Arthur relaxes against Merlin, pressing his nose against his neck and breathing in his scent. Merlin’s skin is beading with sweat and Arthur eventually reaches over to turn the heater off.

“You know I’m fine if you want to keep it on,” Merlin mumbles against his temple once Arthur’s made himself comfortable again.

“For the millionth time: I don’t want you being miserable just to make me feel better. I’m nice and warm now.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Sometimes the memories of cold will cling so hard that this isn’t enough and Merlin will take Arthur home and they’ll curl up in Arthur’s bed with a dozen blankets and pillows and activate both their cores to turn the bed into a nice, warm cocoon where they stay for hours until the memories finally lose their vicious grip on Arthur’s mind.

Sometimes the memories will come out of nowhere. Nothing specific will trigger them; they’ll just come barging into Arthur’s head randomly. Other times, they’re triggered by something. Somebody handing him a glass of chilled champagne that Arthur wasn’t ready for. Stepping out into a cold breeze without expecting it. Opening his fridge; or worse, the freezer.

But slowly, Arthur’s getting better. The freezer is still very difficult for him and he has to stand to the side when he opens it and reach inside with a grabbing tool that he’d bought online. But just last week, he’d managed to open his fridge and take something out without the grabbing tool and without panicking as soon as the cold air had brushed his hand. Merlin had been as thrilled as him and they’d had celebratory sex right there in the kitchen.

Shifting a bit, Arthur pushes his blanket off his shoulders and reaches around to dig one of Merlin’s hands off his back. He plays with Merlin’s hand for a bit and rests his chin on Merlin’s chest as he conjures up a little flame on the tip of his index finger and transfers it to Merlin’s finger.

Merlin chuckles softly and passes the flame to one of Arthur’s other fingers before adding his own flame to the mix. They eventually end up with five little flames that are dancing on the tips of their fingers as they leisurely pass them back and forth.

“You’re feeling better, huh?” Merlin asks, kissing his forehead.

“Yeah.” Curling his hand over top of Merlin’s fingers, Arthur extinguishes the flames before tangling their fingers together. “Do you want to come over? I’ll make dinner.”

“I’ll never say no to your cooking. Do I get dessert?”

Arthur smiles. “Of course.”

“And don’t worry, I’ll be on fridge duty while you cook. I have to earn my keep somehow, don’t I?”

His heart squeezing with love for this incredible man, Arthur leans up and kisses Merlin’s cheek. “You do that anyway.”

Merlin grins at him and leans over to kiss him. He lingers for a moment and Arthur moans softly into the kiss. Once he pulls back, Merlin stares at him, his eyes shining as he squeezes Arthur’s hand. “Ready to go home?”

“Absolutely.” Arthur rolls off Merlin and goes to put the blanket and heater away while Merlin collects their jackets, ties, phones and keys.

Once they’re ready, Arthur reaches out for Merlin’s hand. Smiling softly, Merlin grabs his hand and they walk towards the office door to go home.


End file.
